In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

I’ve never posted In Flanders Fields for Remembrance Day because here in Canada, everyone knows the poem so well. John McCrae was a physician and served during World War I as a surgeon. He wrote the poem on May 3, 1915, after the Second Battle of Ypres.

Given that the poem is one hundred years old this year, it seems fitting to finally post it.